Customer Reviews

Seraphs: A Rogue Mage Novel

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Now people know that you're a mage. And some are really not happy with it. Not happy as in wanting to see you sort of dead.

Thorn has to fight. The orthodox, who want to persecute her because of their not-understanding the powers of her blood. The spawn, out to devour her. Her ex-husband, for loving her in his way and not hers. Her more or less adopted daughter, because she is so loving yet continues to break through all magical protection.

Thorn gathers her strength. Fights her fights. Increases her power. Makes more friends. And fights battle upon battle. To return to the mountain. To free the angel and slay the dragon. Even so, darkness will grow.

Very few authors manage to create a highly compelling universe the size of one small town on a mountain. Yet Faith creates a believable post-apocalyptic reli-twisting world, one that makes you crave more. This story is an excellent sequel to the first introduction to that world. The story flows fast and twirls at the right moments. A minor note of criticism could be that the battles aren't optimally balanced (for me, there could have been less action in the village and more on the mountain). The only reason I can't really bring myself to give 5 stars, is the incredible surprise that the first book brought and that this book (as it's the second) can't continue to deliver. Otherwise, it's a very worthwhile read!

Thorn St. Croix's story continues in the latest Enclave book by Faith Hunter. The main plot surrounds the side effects of exposing herself as a mage in book 1 and the rescue of the imprisoned seraphs and cherub that were left in the pit. While Thorn battles local bigotry and continuing attacks by the darkness, she comes to the reluctant conclusion that she will have to return to the Trine.

What works...
Hunter continues to offer strong and clear writing. Her imagery is excellent even when describing complex concepts and fast-paced action. She also nicely expands on the world introduced in the first book, including mage powers and mage/human/seraph histories. And while others have complained about the excessively hateful view of humans toward mages I think its a plausible reaction of fear and awe toward the unknown and it is described and elaborated well in the second book.

What doesn't work...
While the main character isn't prone to ruminate for chapters at a time and the action seems fairly consistent throughout the book, things still manage to feel stagnant. Perhaps its Thorn's reluctance and indecisiveness that prevents a clear concept of movement and purpose through the book. Even after the climax of the book comes and various revelations are made, I'm still left asking, "So what?" While formulaic its nice to have a cause to invest our hero's energies in and this grand cause that fuels actions in other books seems to be lacking here. As a character Thorn is developing and her powers seem to be building-up in expectation of something, but what that "something" is remains unclear.

Seraphs starts off not long after the events in Bloodring unfold, leaving Thorn St. Croix exposed as a mage hiding for the last ten years in the typical post-apocalyptic town of Mineral City, where mages are hated as much as they are feared.

For the most part, Seraphs was even more enjoyable than the first. The pace is fast, expecting readers to have the first book fresh in their mind, and not slowing down much to let you catch up. Almost immediately, Thorn is brought before the town elders to face a series of charges which could leave her branded, imprisoned, killed or worse. After reading the first book, I was still left wondering why everyone hated mages so much. After all, there are far scarier and more powerful creatures out there- what's so wrong with the mages? Luckily, in Seraphs, mage history is explained in more detail, from the mage and non-mage point of view.

Thorn and the people of Mineral City are faced with the constant threat from creatures of Darkness: Succubae, Inccubi, dragonets, fallen seraphs, demon spawn, daywalkers, and more. What I find so interesting about the world Ms. Hunter has created is the full cast of vastly different characters. From the hateful, Orthodox mage hater to the four headed cherub and her Wheels (which I couldn't really even begin to describe), there are many many different characters in this book and each is richly drawn, unique and often, strangely fascinating.

Seraphs was non-stop action, and a very quick read. The only real problem I had was the ending. The entire book was building toward Thorn's return to the mountains, but by the time she decided to go back, there was only sixty pages left. And by the time she actually made it into the mountains, there was approximately only forty pages remaining. There was so much action, and so many battles, and deaths and near deaths, and revelations in these last few pages, and it could easily have used twice the page time. As I kept getting closer to the end, I constantly worried that Ms. Hunter was going to cut off the book in the middle of the fight, leaving us with a cliffhanger.

The rushed ending also made it a little difficult to keep up with the action. Several times, I had to go back and re-read a passage because I was having a difficult time imagining the characters or visualizing what was happening. But even the rushed ending and occasional difficulty picturing something couldn't stop me from breathlessly turning each page and losing sleep to stay up late to find out how Thorn was going to survive the end of the book. Seraphs is intriguing, entertaining and an exciting follow up to to Bloodring, and I definitely recommend it.

Seraphs is an excellent second novel, continuing the story of neomage Thorn St. Croix that began in Bloodring. Though it's set in a postapocalyptic world, full of battles among demons, seraphs, humans, etc, it's the relationship aspect and the downright good story telling that makes this such a wonderful book, IMO. Faith touches on all-too-human prejudices, pettiness, mob mentality and misguided actions taken in the name of religion, but balances it with hope, true friends, and caring. Though Thorn begins to learn more about herself and what she can do as a mage, there is just as much (if not more) that she doesn't understand; but she's starting to put some of the pieces together. As when she's questioning Lolo and again with the succubus, just knowing what questions to ask gains knowledge, even without answers. She's changing at a rapid pace in Seraphs but doesn't know why or what it all means.

I can't wait to see what happens with Ciana, and I also liked the addition of the Flames and could picture them darting around. Eli returns in Seraphs and is a favorite character of mine, and we see another more serious side of Lucas, but we're left unsure whether he can be trusted or not. To try to make this as objective as a review as I can, I should say what I didn't like about Seraphs, but honestly, overall I think it's a very good book. The only negative might be that I did think that occasionally the detailed descriptions of the stones got a little 'heavier' than maybe was necessary and seemed to bog down the flow of the story just a bit at times; but admittedly, this attention to detail is what many readers will particularly enjoy, so it's really not a negative.

But talk about an interesting, cliffhanger of an ending! Way to torture the poor readers, lol. I feel the need to go back and read Bloodring and then Seraphs again to prepare for Host. I like that in books - the need and the desire to reread them because you know that there are important clues that you missed or didn't see the first time around. There is a lot of depth to this novel, and I highly recommend it.

I cannot give this book or series 4 or 5 stars. I would give it 2.5 stars.

The characters and the plot are intriguing, unique and capture reader's attention.

However, there are too many religious references and symbolism (Christian), many of the references are not properly explained (a non-Christian and non-religious person can get lost in it). The author leaves too many ends loose. Apparently, Thorn is there just to fight Darkness. Her relationships with men seem to be immature and not well developed. There is a "heat" when she is in the presence of seraphs or kylens, but there are no true relationship. Exception is Audric (a gay friend, "mule" and a business partner) and Rupert (another gay friend and a partner).

I wish these books were less about fighting technichs and more about other things, but when the fight scenes start, it never ends, and often it does not really make sense.

More intriguing confusion, a little better than the first book. Once again it starts out swimmingly as Thorn St. Croix is brought to trial in her home town of Mineral City for concealing her mage heritage. Then the story bogs down again, moving forward in fits and starts as demon spawn attack the town trying to get to Thorn. There is much more action in this book but after awhile the battles got a little tiring, and a story line is rehashed as Thorn goes back under the mountain again to do battle with the Darkness as in the previous book. I like Hunter's ideas, but she needs to do better with her pacing and stop overusing descriptive phrases that sound alike even if they're not repeated word for word. Her habit of repeatedly bringing her protagonist to the brink of death and being healed by seraphs is also getting a little old and a tad over-dramatic. Still, she managed to hold my attention, especially with the bits of revelation about her characters doled out little by little, and even makes me want to read the next book - but not enough to pay full price for it. I might borrow it from the library.

This is the third book review I've written of the Rogue Mage books and Faith Hunter as the author. I've sung her praise and will continue to do so. I don't like book reviews that tell you the story and what is right and wrong with a book. I can read the book and judge myself. What I want to know is why I should buy the book or not. So, buy Faith Hunter's books. Buy this book! They make you think. They make you feel. They can bring tears to your eyes. They take you out of your daily life and plunge you into another. They make you happy you're problems are smaller and more managable the the ones the poor Mage has to overcome. In this book she has you thinking about Seraphs, their relationship to God, their relationship to mankind. That they even exist. Entertaining thoughtful reading is what her books are and I do recommend you read them.

After the events of Bloodring, Thorn can no longer hide who she is. She has a few very loyal allies, but as for the rest of the town most are wary of, if not outright against her. Most fear her, and a few would love nothing more than to prosecute and execute her. Although their fears are mostly based on prejudice, some of them are warranted. The dark forces on the Trine are drawn to Thorn as they want Thorn and her powers, bringing the fight to the town. In the end, to save the ones she loves she must do something she vowed never to do again, go underground into the Darkness' lair to rescue a fallen Seraph that is vital to the looming war.

This book was much less confusing than the last one, and while we still do not know the entire truth of Thorn's past, things are starting to become a little more clear. Considering how frustrating it is to me to not know what she truly is, I cannot imagine what it would be like for Thorn. The poor mage has had so many things thrown at her, and everyone seems to know much more about her than she does, its a wonder she can even begin to handle it all. Throughout this book Thorn continues to prove her inner "goodness" regardless of what the townspeople may say, nor the fact that she is supposed to be soulless as all mages are. She never hesitates to risk and sacrifice her safety to protect others and that it a very admirable trait. The mage heat is still an issue for me as you would expect something to come of it, but nothing ever does. While Thorn is so strong willed that she can mostly avoid the temptation, a normal person would not be able to. Since mage heat affects the person it is directed at as well, it would make sense that one of these times something would have happened. Putting that aside Thorn is an amazing character and her selflessness is amazing. I hope in the next book she get some recovery time and a little peace as a reward for all she has done and sacrificed.

In this second installment to the Rogue Mage series, the adventure and magic continues to build. It is a post-apocalyptic world where mysterious angels rule without question, humans huddle where they can find warmth and mages live in enclaves- or hide in plain sight.

Our heroine has been exposed and must face prejudice as well as evil. As she tries to gain and keep her feet, we as readers continue to be enthralled by her and the world she lives in.

It's cold as hell, but bright lights of magic and hope abound. The warmth generated by the relationships that continue to develop melts the ice on each page. Ms. Hunter has created a truly impressive universe with some of the most vivid characters and intricate conflicts and plotlines.

It is a joy to read each page. At the end, while you are still dusting off the debris from the most recent, and most spectacular of confrontations, we get a glimpse that things may yet get even more complicated... or perhaps they always have been!

I read the first book in the series and was intrigued with the potential created in this universe post-apocalyptic with Angels, Mages, demos and poor average humans. Even though it was not as good as I thought, I decided to give a try to the second instalment.

It was a big disapointment. Several reasons:
There is a consistent recurrency in repeating scenes - I lost count how many times the main character creates a circle, draws the energy, load the stones, etc
too many sideline scenes that did not add information or depth to the plot.
The plot was incosistent. She has information from the beginning that angels were trapped still in the Trine and did not do anything about it until the end!
Big scene last less than 60 pages and you get the feeling that the book did not make the story evolve. No new elements to help understand the world apart from some pages. I found several inconsistencies in the book.

Will stop reading this series now. Does not make sense to continue as I do not expect things to change.-